


Battle

by ByAStream



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25899589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByAStream/pseuds/ByAStream
Summary: You see the way Bucky looks at her and decide to end things before you get your heart torn to shreds.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Kudos: 73





	Battle

**Author's Note:**

> A request from tumblr!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: jbbarnesnnoble.tumblr.com

You caught the glances he shared with her. Saw the lunch she brought to him when you were going to see if he wanted to go grab a bite to eat. Anxiety and insecurity twisted in the pit of your stomach. You’d gone down this road before. You knew where it ended. You sat on the couch of the common area of the compound, staring at the television that was playing some Hallmark Channel movie you weren’t engrossed in. Your mind was wandering to what you knew you had to do. Bucky sat down beside you, putting an arm around your shoulder. You shrugged it off. You saw the look of confusion on his face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. You sighed. That was the million dollar question. Your eyes were watering.

“We need to break up,” you said, not turning to look at him. You were struggling to keep it together, to not fall to pieces over one of the hardest things you’d had to do. Sure, you could take down HYDRA operatives with no issue. But ending things with Bucky, that was uncharted waters you never saw yourself entering. He frowned.

“What?” he asked.

“I know where this ends, James. And it ends with me getting hurt. I asked for a transfer to the west coast. Might be temporary, might not be,” you said, managing to keep your voice steady, turning to face him.

“Doll,” he said, reaching up to cup your face. You flinched away. There was no denying the hurt on his face. 

“I see how she looks at you. I can’t go through that, again, Buck. As cliche as it is, if you love something, or someone, let them go,” you told him before standing up.

“Can we talk about this?” he asked, his voice raising. You shook your head. You had already packed a bag and a quinjet was waiting for you. It wasn’t the mature route, but you couldn’t let yourself fall to pieces again. Not after the last time you let someone in. You never wanted to hurt him. But if ending things before you lost him to someone else meant you could protect your heart in the long run, you would do what you needed. You stood up, grabbing the bag that you had set next to the couch. You didn’t look back as you walked away. 

And so began the care and keeping of you. You were doing your best to keep it together. When you spoke to Natasha, she avoided the subject. She checked in on you daily, worried about you and about how you were coping. You broke your own heart to keep someone else from breaking it. 

The first week had been hard. You opened and closed your texts with Bucky more times than you could count, doing your best to ignore the last message he sent, asking you to come home.  _ Home _ . You felt like the compound could never be home again, not when he was your home. You wanted to believe it was a misunderstanding, that he hadn’t been pulling away and toward someone else, that it wasn’t your insecurity. 

Three weeks into your move to the west, your division was working with the team on a mission. You landed at the compound with two of the group you’d dubbed the babies, the teenagers who were part of the west coast initiative. America and Doreen. You saw the looks they gave Bucky as the three of you entered the room. She was with him. You felt your heart crack a little more. 

“Why are there children with you?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow. You just smirked.

“Trust me, Cap. This is America Chavez and Doreen Green. Miss America and Squirrel Girl,” you said.

“Squirrel Girl? What kind of name is Squirrel Girl?” Sam asked with a laugh. You and America shared a look before you heard Sam let out an “oof” as Doreen’s fist connected with his gut.

“Like I said. Trust me,” you said. You heard a high pitched laugh from the other room, your arrival going unnoticed by the pair. You just rolled your eyes. 

“A few days,” Nat said quietly when your group entered the conference room, answering your unasked questions. 

“I figured as much,” you told her. Bucky wasn’t part of this mission. Clint, Nat, Sam, and Steve were going with the three of you. Some alien tech had fallen into the wrong hands and once Captain Marvel arrived, the eight of you would be preparing to head out, anticipating at least a week if not more, of being on the mission. Once Carol arrived, Steve started the briefing.

“We don’t know who this group is. It’s not HYDRA. We’re flying blind and I don’t like it. We’ll recon the best that we can, try to get the advantage. We know they have alien tech, we don’t know what,” Steve said. 

“Whatever it is, it isn’t leftovers from the 2012 invasion. Chemical composition of the scraps we found didn’t match,” you said. The eight of you charted out a game plan over the next hour and a half. Steve wasn’t keen on the two youngest joining the mission, but you insisted. The two of you were left in the conference room as the others left, with the two girls talking excitedly with Nat who insisted on getting a training session in with them before the group of you left for the Canadian wilderness that night. 

“Trust me on this one, Cap. We need them. They both have superhuman strength. Doreen can jump several stories, America can literally kick through reality,” you said. Steve sighed.

“Why did you ask that Bucky not be on this mission?” he asked. You stared at him.

“Steve...you know things ended. And he seems happy with Emilia...Evelyn? Emma?” you asked.

“Emalyn. She invited herself up, by the way. She has access as Tony’s assistant. Buck’s just too nice to brush her off,” he said. You glared at him.

“Try that again with a little more honesty. Nat told me,” you said plainly. Steve sighed.

“He doesn’t like her. She’s convient. He misses you, you know. We all miss you. He still doesn’t understand why you walked away. Why did you leave?” he asked. You scoffed.

“He was clearly falling for her. I’d go ask if he wanted to grab lunch and she brought him lunch. I saw the looks they shared. I wasn’t about to get my heart broken again, Steve,” you said. He shook his head.

“He only accepted a date with her because he was miserable. He’s still miserable. I know him. He loves you. More than anything,” he said. 

“We’re done, Rogers. This conversation is over. We have work to do,” you said. 

What was meant to be a one week mission stretched into two and a half. You found the base of operations and made a plan, but one of the men you were chasing down managed to get the drop on you. THe next thing you saw were the bright white walls of the medical wing of the compound. You heard the movement of metal, the sound that Bucky’s arm made. But that couldn’t be right. Bucky and you had broken up. He wouldn’t be at your bedside. It took a couple minutes for your eyes to adjust enough to fully open. You saw Dr. Cho watching you and then you turned your head. Bucky was sat beside you, eyes bloodshot, whether from emotion or a lack of sleep you weren’t sure. There were deep, dark circles under his eyes that screamed he was exhausted. And you were confused.

“What--,” you were cut off by a coughing fit. Bucky was quick to have a cup of water with a straw, holding it to your lips as you took a sip.

“Easy doll, you’ve been out a few days,” he said.

“Why are you here?” you asked. Your voice was soft, far from having the bite you so desperately wanted to have. You were the one to end things, that much was true. But it still hurt. He frowned.

“When Nat said you needed medical...and when I saw you...I can’t lose you. The past month has been hell,” he said.

“What about Emmylou?” you asked. He just shook his head.

“Emalyn was there. I was lonely. I was hurt. Doll, I never, I never wanted to hurt you. Why didn’t you just tell me what you were feeling?” he asked. You sighed.

“You know my history Buck. I didn’t want to get hurt again,” you said.

“So you broke both of our hearts instead,” he said. 

“You have to understand how it looked from where I stood, Bucky. She brought you lunch multiple times. She was constantly flirting with you and the way you’d look at her,” you said.

“I always turned her down. I’d see you coming, and smile before seeing you walk away. This last month has been hell. You chose to walk away instead of talk. You made that decision on your own. Never gave me to chance to say my piece,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” you said. He sighed, 

“So am I. She and I...I was hurting. I’m not proud of it. I ended it after you left on the mission. Seeing you again...even if you hadn’t gotten hurt, I was determined to talk to you, talk this out, talk about us, if there could still be an us,” he said. 

“Let’s take it one day at a time, yeah? Starting with me getting out of here. You know how much I hate the medbay,” you replied, sending him into a fit of laughter. The two of you sat talking for a while, until a crash from the doorway drew your attention. America, Doreen, Natasha and Steve laid in a pile in the doorway. You and Bucky stifled your laughter as you looked at the group.

“Some things really do never change around here,” you said. 


End file.
